Find of a lifetime - I discover a new species on video [ancient billfish species]

NEW EOCENE BILLFISH DISCOVERY! | Two Skull Pieces, Found Two Years Apart, Become a New Species

In this episode, I take you along on a once-in-a-lifetime palaeontological journey: discovering two pieces of the SAME fossil skull, two years apart, and watching them become part of the naming of a brand-new early Eocene billfish species.

While exploring a remote spot in Otago, New Zealand, I first uncovered a mysterious fossilised skull. It seemed unusual, but the true significance only emerged years later. Returning to the same site, lightning struck twice, I found the back half of the same skull. Together, these rare fossils helped reveal a completely new genus and species of ancient billfish.

The fossil is now officially named Zealandorhynchus fordycei, honouring the late Emeritus Professor Ewan Fordyce, a legendary vertebrate palaeontologist who spent over 40 years at the University of Otago’s Department of Geology. Professor Fordyce passed away in November 2023, but his influence continues to shape New Zealand palaeontology.

A recently published paper in Gondwana Research details this discovery and another large fossil billfish skull found in Otago nearly 40 years ago. Both specimens are now housed in the Earth Science New Zealand National Paleontological Collection (formerly GNS Science).

Billfish, such as marlins and swordfish, are powerful predators recognised by their long, spear-like upper jaws. These Eocene fossils represent early, extinct forms of billfish, and their large size suggests they came from adults several metres long - this one was probably 2.6m long and weighed around 150kg.

Lead author, Dr Seabourne Rust, notes that these fossils provide rare insight into early billfish evolution. Their presence in New Zealand hints at a much wider southern hemisphere distribution in the Eocene than previously known, challenging the long-held view that early billfishes were almost exclusively northern hemisphere animals.

This discovery means a lot to me personally, not just because I found the specimen, but because it contributes to the legacy of Professor Fordyce, who guided generations of students and researchers and helped build our understanding of Aotearoa’s fossil record.


Read the paper here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

0:00 – Intro
0:15 – Finding the first section
2:13 – The surprising second skull fragment
3:49 – The two pieces fit together
4:55 – 40 years ago
5:41 – The fossil gets named
6:09 – The legacy of Ewan Fordyce
6:46 – Final thoughts and reconstruction

#discovery #science #fossil